Aerodynamic and thermal characteristics of modified raked-off blunted coneOne of the leading candidate concepts of aeroassisted orbital transfer vehicles incorporates an aerobrake in the shape of a raked-off ellipsoidally blunted elliptic cone. The present paper proposes modifying this geometry to a spherically blunted circular cone to avoid flow impingement on the afterbody. In addition, the vehicle components are arranged axially so that the vehicle is always aerodynamically stable and controllable. The Newtonian aerodynamic characteristics of the modified aerobrake geometry are determined and are shown to be nearly identical to those of the elliptic cone described above. Flight regimes and heat transfer rates, both convective and nonequilibrium radiative, are calculated using the most up-to-date methods. It is shown that the total heat transfer rates for a noncatalytic heat shield will remain below tolerable limits.
Document ID
19860055176
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Davies, C. B. (Informatics General Corp. Palo Alto, CA, United States)
Park, C. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)